The present invention relates generally to the field of cap storage devices. In particular, the present invention relates to a cap storage device for the storage and shaping of caps having bills, such as baseball caps and the like. The storage device provides a shape forming structure that is utilized to enable the bills of caps to be formed and maintained in a desired shape.
Typically, caps, such as those traditionally worn in baseball, have a bill that is generally planar when it is fabricated. However, as is particularly well known with respect to the sport of baseball, it has been desirable to shape the bill of a billed cap to have an arched shape, wherein the side edges of the bill are lower than the middle of the bill. Thus, when viewed from the front, the bill is arched.
In the past, a popular method of obtaining such a desired shape was to place a baseball under the bill of the cap, and then, bind the bill around the surface of the ball, typically with a rubber band. Another method used, is to place the bill of a cap into a cup having the inner circumference that is desired for the arch of the bill and maintaining it in that position until the bill conforms to the arched shape.
Since the bill""s natural configuration is to be planar in shape, the bill will slowly straighten when it is not being constrained by one of the above shaping methods. Furthermore, although these methods of shaping the bill of a hat may work to achieve a desired arched shape, the caps cannot easily be stored in this configuration.
Therefore, a need exists for a device that shapes the bill of a cap to a desired shape and acts to maintain the desired shape of the cap while the cap is compactly stored within the device.
The present invention addresses these needs, as well as other problems associated with the shaping and storing of billed caps.
The present invention relates to a storage device for caps having a bill. The device is comprised of a cavity that is sized to accommodate at least one billed cap. The cavity has an opening on one end to allow for the insertion of caps into the device. The device also has a portion of the cavity configured for bill shaping. The cap storage and shaping device provides a means of storing the cap and protecting the cap from damage, while providing a device for shaping the bill and maintaining the bill in the desired shape while in storage. In this way, the cap can be stored and, when removed, the bill has the same desired shape as when it was last worn by the user.